WC Library summer reads program ends

Two decorated mason jars graced the counter of White City’s Library branch on August 11. Designated "Y.A.," one drew young adult readers’ written guesses regarding the value of its contents. The second, invited participants aged 3-11 to estimate how much in coins it contained.

Her closest guess –$22, won Dominique Esqueda the Y. A. jar. Matthew
Reid reeled in the second one, with his nearest approximation of $13.

At
4 p.m., Assistant Librarian, Lynn Farber donned a "bug-antennae"
headband to launch the finale of the summer reading program. The
colorful head-piece had been painstakingly fashioned by Foster
Grandparent, Doris Mattey , who spent the school vacation months
helping at the library. "Grandma Doris" displayed an array of other
exquisite crafts she’d completed for the party. Her friend, Marilyn
Phillips who usually works at Little Butte School, joined Mattey for
the day.

Amid scorching temperatures on the library’s
grounds, most of the children sported swimsuits. This worked well with
some of the quasi-aquatic outdoor games Farber announced.

"Before
the final prize drawings, you’ll have an hour to play. You can choose
the slip ‘n slide, water-balloon toss, water guns, or the booths." One
booth featured a watermelon-eating contest. Children received
half-slices an inch thick on paper plates. At the signal, they began
chewing. The first contestant to gnaw down to "no pink" won. Kristin
Hyland took the initial game, winning a plastic Hawaiian-style lei.

At
the face-painting booth, Naomi Palomares brought sons Caden and Devante
to Olivia Ramos-Vance who applied her artistic expertise.

A
game with hand-pumped water "cannons" challenged kids to aim at the
empty 2-litre bottles lining a shelf ten feet away. To win points, the
shooter had to topple the bottles with water spray. Seventh grader,
Andrew Bray stepped up and cleared the entire shelf of all plastic
containers on his initial try. He won tickets entitling him to his
choice of candies.

After an hour of play, the serious
prize-drawing began. According to Director Lisa Ramos-Vance, a total
of 382 readers had turned in coupons attesting to their completion of
books this summer. Of those, 304 were aged 3 to 11, and 78 were 12 to
18.
The younger group had read 2,040 books; the teens, 411.

"We
gave away a total of 110 prizes," Ramos-Vance said. These included gift
certificates to the Apple Peddler, Dairy Queen, and Li’l Caesar’s
pizza; also books from the best-selling Twilight series by Stephenie
Meyer.

Grand prize winners’ names were drawn from coupons
participants had turned in upon completing ten books. Young adults
earned coupons for every five books. The coveted grand prizes, Mp3
players had been donated by Friends of the Library President Brandie
Mendoza. Seven-year-old Sierra Nemer-Kaiser, and Edith Ledesma, age
twelve, each garnered the grand prize for her age category. By F.C. Blake
Of the Independent